Avery Ovens
ao138618@ohio.edu
averyovenss@gmail.com
https://www.documentjournal.com/2020/06/the-blurred-faces-and-ethics-of-protest-photography/
Journalists have been given the greatest storytelling tool of photo and video helping to bring their story to life. Conveying truth is every journalist's main priority and making sure that reality is captured and relayed accurately is extremely important in doing that. With that being said, having photo and video can bring about my ethical conflicts between the subjects and the audience. This can affect how people perceive journalists if done poorly. People's faces being identified in these published works has put journalists in a tough spot to protect the privacy of these individuals but also to continue to report truthfully on the story. Just because taking photo and video footage is lawful doesn't mean it is ethical to do in certain situations.
There have been speculations if photojournalists should blur out the faces of people in their visual media as well as if they should seek the consent of those pictured. Journalists feel that blurring out faces goes against many important thing's journalists need to do in order to do their job. Blurring faces can affect how well they connect their story with the audience. Showing real faces helps make the story more personal to the people reading about it. Faceless people turn into nameless people which end up turning into something that isn't even real. Gathering the names of those pictured is a way to respect them but also in large gatherings it can be hard to do. When covering protests, it can be very fast paced with many different things happening but, trying to connect with the protestors can help get their consent as well as their story and feelings adding a different perspective to the story.
Photojournalism in public places causes many ethical concerns with the privacy of people because though it is legal to photograph in public spaces, there are still social courtesy's to be mindful about. In some areas, if you are pictured at a protest, you can risk losing your job or even be charged with a crime. Taking a picture of a child in a public place can cause conflicts with their parent or guardians if consent was not given even though it is not required. Taking pictures of homeless people is also allowed but can come off as disrespectful since it is a vulnerable subject. Sometimes the original intentions of photojournalists get lost when things get published and the audience can take things into their own perspective. Being mindful of the subjects that need to be captured for a story is important to minimize harm but also, it is important to convey the world as it is to tell a truthful and informational story.
https://mediaengagement.org/research/blurring-the-line-between-reporting-the-truth-and-minimizing-harm/
Hello Avery. I really enjoyed reading your blog post about ethics in photojournalism. I liked how you brought up the ethical conflict about how blurring the face might help reduce the individual's personal risks. I know people who have very different ideologies than there family who did not tell them that they went to those protests so if an image came up of them at a protest it could damage their personal life. When I was at a protest a photojournalist took a photo of me and after the protest was over he approached me asking for my consent. I know that with larger protests this may be more difficult but I think it is important.
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